Beach tolls could rise for out-of-county 'day-trippers'

It could be a big increase, if one early plan is any indication: $30 instead of $5, with some exceptions and incentives built in to reward tourists who stay here overnight.

ANDREW GANTSTAFF WRITER

DAYTONA BEACH — For years, the price of driving onto Volusia County's beach has been about the same as a sandwich: $5 per car. For the first time in close to 20 years, amid a philosophical shift to make the beach a more Disney-like attraction, that price is probably going to jump — but only for the out-of-towners who visit it for the day. It could be a big increase, if one early plan is any indication: $30 instead of $5, with some exceptions and incentives built in to reward tourists who stay here overnight. "There's too much riff-raff coming in from out of town who are just destroying our beach," said County Councilman Josh Wagner, who's planning to bring forward his $30 plan as the council discusses a county manager's recommendation to increase prices. "Just because our beach is busy doesn't mean it's successful. For our beach to be a success, it needs to generate revenue." The $30 plan is a bold proposal — a 500 percent increase to a fee that's held constant since 1996 — but not out of line with what Volusia officials are hoping to accomplish with an increase: More money from visitors, less burden on residents. Today's tolls generate only about $3 million of the county's $7.2 million beach budget, which is inflated in large part because of the cost of allowing vehicles on the sand. That funding gap means a bigger share of the cost falls to Volusia residents who pay property taxes (whether directly or indirectly, through their rent checks). On a recent holiday weekend, about 80 percent of the beachgoers who paid the daily toll were from outside Volusia, according to a county survey. The people who watch the local tourism economy say many of those visitors are "day trippers" who don't spend all that much more than the $5 toll while they're here. "It's kind of hard to classify them as tourists," said County Councilman Doug Daniels, a longtime local attorney and, in the 1990s, chairman of the Volusia Charter Review Commission's beach review committee. "They are day trippers. They're not over here spending time in the community and adding to the economy of the area." "The amount of people that come to Volusia County from outside of the county to literally spend no money at all, I believe they should pay the true cost of the beach," Wagner said. Some beachside business owners have the same observation: "We get way too many negative-impact visitors in Volusia that go to the beach," said David LaMotte, owner and general manager of Salty Dog Surf Shop. "They come here for the day, they go to the beach for $5 or to the parks for free, and they go home. They don't spend any money here. "The argument I always hear is that if you raise the tolls, people are going to stop coming here," LaMotte said. "No, they're not." While County Manager Jim Dinneen has said he'll be recommending an increase, he hasn't said how much. Inflation alone has taken a bite out of the toll revenue: $5 in 1996 is the same as $7.42 today. No one has proposed raising the price for locals. That $5 toll would stay, along with the $20 resident season pass. The $40 nonresident season pass is likely to rise to correlate with the increase to the daily price. In Wagner's plan, a visitor who's staying in a local hotel would still get the $5 resident rate. (That's because by paying for a room, the visitor is indirectly contributing to the property tax revenue that funds so many beach operations.) For the ones who pay $30, their beach pass would include a $10 voucher to spend on food or drinks from beach concessionaires. LaMotte, former chairman of the defunct Volusia Beach Advisory Board, said he'd like to see the county go a step further than simply increasing tolls. He said the off-beach parking lots — which Volusia officials have been looking to add wherever possible — should also charge. During his time on the board, LaMotte also proposed a plan to raise the toll to $20, then distribute free beach passes to residents when they paid their property taxes. "I don't think we would've lost one person coming here," he said. "The only people who are going to stop coming here are the people who don't spend any money here anyway. Twenty bucks is not a lot to get on the beach." Some will probably look off the beach, though, for a cheaper place to park: "I'd park at the grocery store and walk across the street," said Nancy Goldsworthy of Ocala, who was on the beach Saturday near the Granada Boulevard approach in Ormond Beach. "I'm not paying $30."

The $30 daily toll plan

Volusia County Councilman Josh Wagner is proposing:

— "Day trippers" from outside Volusia County pay $30 cash to get on the beach;

— In exchange, they get a $10 voucher to spend on beach concessions;

— If they're staying in a local hotel, they pay the same $5 toll as a Volusia resident;

— Residents' season passes remain $20, but nonresident passes increase from their current $40.